The present work was carried out to establish rapid in vitro propagation of the indigenous oilseed Citrullus lanatus. Efficiency of 3 protocols for seed decontamination was investigated. High level of ... [more ▼]

The present work was carried out to establish rapid in vitro propagation of the indigenous oilseed Citrullus lanatus. Efficiency of 3 protocols for seed decontamination was investigated. High level of seed sterilization was obtained after removing seed coat and soaking the seeds in 1.6 % sodium hypochlorite with a drop of Tween 20. Shoot tips, single node and cotyledon explants of 3 morphotypes have been screened for adventitious shoot formation in tissue culture. Best response in termis of multiple shoot induction was obtained from cotyledon proximal part with hypocotyl segmenet on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 1 mg/l 6-Benzylaminopurine, 30 g/l sucrose and 8 g/l agar. After 3 weeks of culture, 90% of cotyledon proximal parts induced shoot. An average of 12.6 shoots per explants and a mean shoot length of 8 mm were obtained after multiplication stage. Shoot induction appeared to be strongly influenced by genotype and explant type. The percentage of shoot induction from cotyledon proximal parts ranged from 23.3% to 64.0% according to the genotype. Efficient rooting was achieved on half-solid MS medium containing 0.1 mg/l 1-Naphthaleneactic acid or without growth regulator. Acclimatised plantlets were transferred to greenhouse where they grew and flowered like seeded plantlets. [less ▲]